Why Farming?
It's long overdue that we put into words an explanation as to why we've chosen this lifestyle. Our attempt to summarize our motives and extend an invitation. So many of our dearest friends and family have no notable connection to farming, so we hope these feeble words can usher in more mutual understanding about why this path is so precious to us.
"Discovering one's purpose" feels like some sort of arbitrary myth, created by the privileged to help justify their earthly pursuits. In a world where capitalism is king, and working a grueling 9-5 is necessary to make ends meet, is there any space left for the concept of a life's purpose? We're unsure. But no one is more surprised than us to share that if we have ever been close to feeling like we have a purpose in this strange life, it is to farm.
What is farming to us? It's a survival mechanism, a routine, and a habit. It's a guide and a map, pulling us through each day with a clear goal.
Every morning looks relatively the same for us. We begrudgingly pull ourselves out of bed at the sound of impatient sheep bleating in our yard. We force ourselves outside, regardless of the weather to assure them they will be fed and watered another day. We feed the screeching pigs, scratch the bellies of our puppies, and load the water tank. It's absolutely mundane. It's monotonous in nature.
Yet it's also a powerful offering to our tiny corner of the earth and to all the living beings who reside there to know they are safe. Their needs will be met. Today, they are free to just be.
There are many obvious farming metaphors about how touching the soil each day brings us closer to the wisdom of the earth and the rhythm of the seasons, blah blah blah. All that is definitely valid!
“But at its core, the most powerful component of farming has been its relentless invitation to examine and sit with death.”
Farming is just as much about death as it is about life. Whether you're growing strawberries or meat hogs, the end goal is the same: nourishing humans. Growing and picking food to nourish humans, or raising and slaughtering animals to nourish humans. The death of one, contributing to the life of many. Holistic farming, in our opinion, is the cog in the machine that keeps humanity going. We have become so far removed from farming in our everyday lives that we often forget about our primal dependency on the earth in order to survive.
Raising animals, caring for them across their lifespan, and then slaughtering them ourselves is brutally emotional. It's a taxing process both physically and financially. But the feeling of nourishing our weary bodies with meat that lived safely and happily has been life-enriching. We've realized that turning our minds away from death doesn't make death cease to exist. Choosing to face death head on, and shoulder the responsibility of giving animals lives worth living has proven to be both healing and empowering. If anything, it has made living feel more alive.
It is also an undeniable reminder of how humans lived for millenia. Up until mere decades ago, families produced most of their food themselves. It feels downright cool to be able to connect to the wisdom of so many generations of farmers and indigenous groups before us and lean into the natural, beautiful, devastating cycles of nature.
So, is farming our lifelong purpose? Hard to say. Life thus far has taught us that absolutely nothing is guaranteed or straightforward. Our best bet at surviving it year after year is leaning into whatever expected and unexpected opportunities come our way with as open of a heart as we can muster. For now and the foreseeable future, farming is our stronghold that we cling to, resting in the hope that it will continue nurturing us the way it has so far.
We owe our deepest thanks to all the people who've supported us thus far. We're better together!
Love,
Dana and Jordan
